%0 Journal Article
%A Brown, Isola AM
%A Gulbransen, Brian D.
%T The antioxidant glutathione protects against enteric neuron death in situ, but its depletion is protective during colitis
%D 2017
%R 10.1152/ajpgi.00165.2017
%J American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
%X Enteric glia play an important neuroprotective role in the enteric nervous system (ENS) by producing neuroprotective compounds such as the antioxidant reduced glutathione (GSH). The specific cellular pathways that regulate glial production of GSH, and how these pathways are altered during, or contribute to, neuroinflammation in situ and in vivo are not fully understood. We investigated this issue using immunohistochemistry to localize GSH synthesis enzymes within the myenteric plexus and tested how the inhibition of GSH synthesis with the selective inhibitor L-Buthionine Sulfoximine (BSO) impacts neuronal survival and inflammation. Both enteric glia and neurons express the cellular machinery necessary for GSH synthesis. Further, glial GSH synthesis is necessary for neuronal survival in isolated preparations of myenteric plexus. In vivo depletion of GSH does not induce colitis but alters myenteric plexus neuronal phenotype and survival. Importantly, global depletion of glutathione is protective against some macro and microscopic measures of colonic inflammation. Together, our data highlights the heterogeneous roles of GSH in the myenteric plexus of the ENS and during GI inflammation.%U http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/ajpgi/early/2017/09/06/ajpgi.00165.2017.full.pdf